Basketball drills

Prerequisites:
players must be able to individually pivot and drive from the 3-point line

Goal: in-out
movement, pass lines and drive to the basket

Organization:

• first man in line has no ball
• Makes his in-out move and asks for the ball with his outside hand at the 3-point line.
• Pivots and thus brings himself into the dribble start position
• with one bounce to the basket
• Finish with lay up
• Catch it yourself, dribble to the corner of the court on the other side than where you started.
• pass the ball to the man in the back and connect with him.
• Everyone in line moves up 1 position
  
  

Teaching points:

• always make a front move while making the front pivot (face the basket)
• Adjust on the outside hand, high
• Sit deep in the spin
• Pass the ball below knee height
• After the turn, feet pointing to the basket
• Knees strongly bent after the turn
• shoulders above the feet
• Ready for shot or drive

Variations:

When players have mastered the footwork, expand to include:

• open step to the elbow + shot
• shot fake + 1 bounce + jump shot side bucket (move parallel to the sideline)

Requirements:
players must be able to drive and shoot from the free throw line

Goal: 1)
see
the
help coming2)
judge if you have time to run a lay up or if you should stop and shoot

Organization:

• attacker 1 dribbles in the indicated direction around the pawn
• defender 2 simulates the helper
• defender 3 simulates the defender who just passed the dribbler
• each player attacks x times

Teaching points:
during the dribble, assess the speed of the helper and make a decision

Variations:

• by moving the helper's pawn further away from the ring, there is more room for a lay up
• Move the pawn closer to the ring to stimulate a stop and a jump shot.

Requirements:
players must be able to drive and shoot from the 3-point line

Goal: get free
at the forward position and improve scoring ability from that position

Organization:

• attacker 1 receives the pass from 2 after a shallow cut
• and plays 1 against 1 against defender 4
• 2 waits for 2 seconds and runs a shallow cut to the other side of the basket and plays 1 against 1 against 5
• defender counts down aloud as soon as the attacker has the ball in his hands: 23, 22, 21.
• If the ball has not yet touched the ring, the point goes to the defender.
• loser of the 1 against 1 goes to defend
• winner takes the ball and runs outside to the back of the row
• play until the 7 (defender gets a point if he stops the attacker from scoring)

Teaching points:

• first cut to the basket
• then change direction and speed hard to the three-point line
• Ask for the ball on the outside
• face the basket immediately after receiving the ball
• use the front or reverse pivot immediately as a feint
• read in this pivoting movement on which side the defender leaves room (shot, crossover or open step)
• sit deep in the turn
• high speed of action: with a maximum of one feint, unbalance the defender and move to the basket
• Play with full intensity!

Tip:

if the attacker does not read well and always makes only the action he is good at, instruct the defender how to defend it. In this way, the attacker is forced to first look at where the space is and only then make his decision

Requirements:
players must be able to drive and shoot from the 3-point line

Goal:
practice different techniques to score from the forward position

Organization:

• Attacker 3 sprints after the pass directly to the forward position.
• gets the ball there
• and attacks the basket with a high speed of action.
• Starts to land in 2TR and shoots.
• while finishing underneath the basket, always picks up the ball
• with a big approach step to the desired position under the hoop
• Pull on the other foot
• and take off with two feet

Rotation:

• the passer takes a step backwards to make room for the next passer.
• the archer catches the ball and passes it to the passer
• who joins the back of the row with the ball
• the shooter takes the position of the passer.
  
  

Catch and go:

• catch the ball and attack directly at the elbow
• sharp change of direction
• high speed
  
  

Mtm offense

Jump back:

• Attack the elbow
• Offset under the elbow on your front foot and jump backward
• pick up the ball and shoot
  
  

Jump back and drive:

• Attack the elbow
• Jump back and drive: attack the elbow, push off under the elbow onto your front foot and jump backwards
• do not pick up the ball, but change hands and attack the basket at the weak side
  
  

1 on 1

• the passer is now slightly deeper
• As soon as he has passed to the forward, he starts defending
• the attacker applies the different techniques he practised before
  
  

Rotation:

the pair that has finished the 1v1 move together to the centre line and swap roles OR the loser defends.

Variations:

• left and right
• place the passer in the corner or on the block
• different techniques of finishing under the board
• adding a help defender to the weak side, so that the attacker also learns what (im)possibilities are there.

Requirements:
players must be able to dribble a layup run

Objective:
to increase attacking ability in 1 against 1

Organization:

• player 1 receives the ball from 3
• 3 moves backwards
• 1 unbalances 3, passes and goes hard to the basket
• the defender's task is to stop the dribble
• loser continues to defend on the same side
• winner attacks on the other side

Teaching Points:

• attacker must aggressively close the distance
• dribble straight at the defender
• throw the defender off balance
• attacker must be unpredictable
• choose which side to pass on at the last moment
• Use feints in the dribble
• After passing, go full speed towards the basket
• play with guts
• If you cannot, regain your balance and try another technique, e.g. backup dribble + jump shot.

Requirements:

players must know what the correct defensive posture is have

Goal:

• reinforce good habits regarding defensive position
• To increase speed and flexibility of footwork

Organisation:

• do as circuit, 1 minute each time
• player 1 jumps sideways with 2 feet left and right of the line
• player 2 does that forwards and backwards.
• players jump with 2 feet forward wide - narrow - wide. With a jump in the air they do a 180 degree jump and start over again.
• player 4 passes the ball through the wall to himself and goes with slides to the position where he catches it again. Makes it more and more difficult for himself by increasing the distance.
• player 5 defends the mid post and chooses every time another position (behind, swim over - full front - swim over low and back again)
• player 7 makes a square with jumps on 1 foot (feather by landing) always 2x with right, then 2x with left. First left, then right etc.

Teaching points:

• knees bent
• head above the

Goal: Defending the forward in triple threat position

Organization:

• attacker makes an agreed number of different feints before shooting or dribbling to the basket
• defender must anticipate with a drop step when the attacker threatens to go over the front foot
• with a two-footed backward hop when the attacker threatens to go over the back foot
• when the attacker brings up the ball, the defender should quickly step towards the attacker, stand against him, feet wider than the attacker,
• Trace the ball with your hands
• When the attacker brings the ball back down, the defender returns to his/her original position with a slide step or a hop backwards (arm's length distance)

Teaching points:

• react quickly on the feet, before the attacker does
• Distance from the attacker: match the threat he poses.
• Shorten the distance to the attacker with mini-slides, so that you can react immediately

Variations:

attacker gives a pass to himself from the bucket edge

Starting exercise:

• defender starts at arm's length
• Square up = feet next to each other, chest perpendicular to the line of the ball-basket when the attacker is standing on the axis of the field.
• Left foot forward when the attacker is standing on the right half of the field and vice versa.
• Attacker fakes the shot
• Defender steps forward, hand on ball
• Attacker brings the ball down
• defender recovers arm-length distance
• attacker makes max 2 dribbles, left or right
• after the stop, the defender steps forward again, hand on the ball

Form of play:

• as above, but with shot + boxing out (= wall and rebound)
• 2 scores in a row (also from the rebound!!) OR 2 stops in a row = loser presses and change

Goal: defend the dribbler after stopping the dribble

Organization:

• man with ball passes to opponent when trainer whistles
• who takes 1 bounce and stops the dribble in 2 Count Rhythm (2TR)
• The trainer counts down 5 seconds and then blows his whistle as end signal
• The aggressive defender steps back to his starting position
• The roles are now reversed
• As soon as the trainer whistles you pass the ball to the other player
• go for it aggressively straight away
• Try to prevent the other player from passing by keeping your hand in front of the ball (trace the ball)
• Try to get your feet to the left and right of the pivot foot of the man with the ball so that he cannot turn

Teaching Points:

• avoid mistakes; do not hit the ball
• Go for the 5 seconds
• Get as close as possible to the attacker (but stay in your own cylinder)
• Move your feet closer to the attacker, but keep your position between the attacker and the basket.

Variations:

• a third man to whom the ball must be passed within 5 seconds. Choose a limited area in which the third man can run free (use lines on the court, or place pawns).
• Pass from under the board to the player on the block. This player must try to pivot past the defender and score. Winner becomes attacker on the block, loser passes from the back line.

Form of play:

• Ten ball on the half court, where the receiver of the ball has to make a dribble start with 1 bounce before he can pass the ball on.
• idem, but defence MUST double team the man with the ball.

Goal: teach defenders how to catch the attacking foul (= penetrate or charge) (and how to handle physical contact)

Principles:

1. when the attacker gets closer, move your feet further apart and lower your butt
2. Hard forearm across your navel for protection.
3. Always land on both buttocks.
4. Land in the direction of penetration.
5. roll to your shoulders and bring your legs up for protection
6. DO NOT catch with your hands to avoid broken wrists.
7. scream while falling

Preparatory exercises:

• players line up in defensive stance
• Trainer walks forward
• players put their feet outward, bring the hard forearm in front of their navel and lower their buttocks
• Trainer shouts "charge".
• players fall and roll on

defend the dribbler

• the trainer makes a zigzag movement
• the players make slide steps and drop steps as if they were defending the dribbler
• as the dribbler approaches, players move their feet outward, bring the hard forearm in front of their belly button and lower their buttocks
• trainer calls 'charge
• players fall on both buttocks in the direction of the penetration and roll through

spin dribble

• the trainer simulates a spin dribble
• players take two quick slide steps around their imaginary attacker, land wide, bring the hard forearm in front of their navel and lower their buttocks
• Trainer calls 'charge'.
• players fall on both buttocks in the direction of penetration and roll through

Goal: learn or improve side slides + condition

Organization:

• all players on the helpline, facing the coach
• when coach bounces the ball all players jump into defensive position
• coach moves to the left or to the right, parallel to the backline
• players must stay with their face right in front of the ball
• increase the level of difficulty by changing direction and/or speed at random

Teaching Points:

• feet at least shoulder width
• knees at about 100 degrees (= sitting down deeply)
• shoulders above the heels (= back straight)
• Head upright (overlook the field)
• Hand closest to the ball is low (to be able to tap the ball away on the dribble)
• Other hand is above the shoulder (to intercept a pass)
• push hard on the push-off leg to gain speed
• Feet stay low to the ground (= slide, shuffle)
• feet do not connect after a slide, but remain at shoulder width

Variations:

• let the defender keep his hands on his back if you want to accentuate the feet and stance.
• 1 slide and back to the sideline, 2 slides and back etc. until you reach the sideline; followed by a short fierce sprint back to the sideline
• first a drop step and then slides backwards to the sideline + sprint back
• idem, but first a little tap (quickly transfer weight from one foot to the other)

Prerequisites:

players must know what the correct defensive stance is

Goal:

• to reinforce good habits regarding defensive position
• To increase speed and flexibility of footwork

Organisation:

• always 3 minutes
• back over the backline with sprint to the basket and then slides to the sideline facing the centre circle.
• facing each other slowly - wax on wax off
• faster - hold both hands
• only the back hand
• follower holds the leader's shirt
• leader tries to get free by changing speed
• follower tries to keep his head in front of the chest of the leader

Teaching points:

• knees bent
• shoulders above the feet
• front foot pointing in the direction
• hands: wax on - wax off

Prerequisites:

players must understand the principles of help side and ball side defense

Goal:

To create automatisms in defence

Organization:

5 against 5 on one basket

Successively:

• pass only
• pass + cut + fill in
• drive left + turn the wheel and the same player does a back up dribble + drive right + turn the wheel
• then he passes and cuts to the weak side
• the same with a skip pass after the two drives
• centre comes in from the weak side = catching and forcing a cut to the back
• both forwards cut in from the weak side in quick succession
  
  

Variation:

• play with 4 out
• allow the first pass to the centre
• Defender of the center takes up his position between man and basket while the ball is in the air with a hop.
• passer cuts past the post
• centre passes out to the head

Teaching points:

• all defenders move to their new position while the ball is in the air
• cutting in after a pass = jump to the ball - catch with the chest and force the ball to be cut in behind you
• cutting in from the weak side catch the player with your forearm and force him to cut behind you
• recover immediately after you have helped and the ball is passed out
• aggressive sprint + mini slides + sitting deep at close out after skip pass
• centre passes to the head = his defender has to be 'up the line and on the line